The Polish prosecutor’s office has launched an investigation into attempts to recruit Belarusian citizens living in Poland by the Belarusian secret services (KGB).
According to the Do Rzeczy news portal, RMF FM broke the news that KGB officers had reportedly been in contact with employees of the National Anti-Crisis Directorate (NZA), part of the Belarusian opposition operating in Poland.
KGB agents are said to have attempted to persuade opposition activists, primarily via the Telegram app, to provide information about the Belarusian diaspora in Poland. The messages received by NZA members employed various forms of pressure, from blackmail and bribery to promises of a “clean slate.”
“They send messages, offering cooperation: ‘You’ll receive 3,000 złoty (€700) for information.’ Further payments depend on the initial outcome. There are also threats directed at me—’Tell Latushka that you’ll be killed,'” said Paweł Latushka, head of the National Anti-Crisis Directorate and deputy chairwoman of the United Transitional Cabinet.
Latushka emphasized that the Belarusian security services are using psychological pressure on opposition activists and threatening family members who still live in Belarus. “They are using blackmail, bribery, physical threats, discrediting, psychological pressure, and also against our families in Belarus,” he said.
According to him, the scale of the KGB’s activities is very broad, with 15 such cases already reported, and the recruitment attempts themselves could pose a threat to Poland’s security.
“The KGB is implementing its grim plans. We were forced to evacuate several families from Belarus because the services were harassing them, threatening them with detention and arrest. These are people who had to abandon their entire lives and flee. Never in the history of the Belarusian democratic movement has the regime’s services been so determined to destroy us,” Latushka told RMF FM.
The prosecutor’s office’s investigation is based on an article of the Penal Code concerning participation in foreign intelligence activities against Poland. According to the law, such an offense is punishable by a minimum of five years in prison, and after the 2023 amendment to the Code, up to 30 years in prison.
